More than three years after Col. Doug DeMaio was abruptly relieved as commander of the Alabama Air National Guard’s 187th Fighter Wing, a federal employment panel has upheld a ruling ordering Alabama to restore him to the position with back pay and benefits.

DeMaio said he was removed from command in August 2022 and left Dannelly Field in Montgomery within three hours.

He says he still has not completed his out processing from the base he once commanded.

“I have no idea why I was removed,” DeMaio told Task & Purpose. “No clue.”

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Late last month, the federal panel ruled that Alabama officials never provided a good reason for firing DeMaio, either to him or during court proceedings.

The decision affirmed a 2024 ruling by administrative judge Christopher Sprague, according to court documents reviewed by Task & Purpose.

Sprague’s original decision centered on a Relief of Command memo containing three sentences that DeMaio received from the state’s commanding general in 2022.

The memo said only that, “after careful consideration,” DeMaio had been relieved “for cause.”

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Sprague found that Maj. Gen. Sheryl E. Gordon, who led the Alabama National Guard in 2022, “removed [DeMaio] from his military position ‘for cause,’ but fails to identify what the ‘cause’ was.”

A separate state filing responding to DeMaio’s appeal did not clear up the mystery.

Sprague wrote that the filing “obliquely alludes to the appellant’s failure to obey an order from superior officers, but still fails to identify what the order was or who issued the order.”

An Alabama Air Guard spokesperson told Task & Purpose in 2022 that the state’s “leadership lost trust and confidence in Col. Douglas DeMaio’s ability to command.”

Image Credit: DoW

Sprague ultimately ordered Alabama to “cancel the removal and to retroactively restore” DeMaio to his former job, including back pay and benefits.

Following the panel’s August decision, any additional appeal by Alabama would have to proceed in federal appeals court.

The Guard did not respond to an email from Task & Purpose asking whether another appeal was planned.

DeMaio, a former F-16 pilot, said his future remains uncertain. He graduated from the Air Force Academy in 1991 and flew F-16s for most of his active duty career before leaving active duty as a colonel in 2020 to command the 187th.

At the time, the 187th was one of two Air National Guard units selected to transition from F-16s to F-35s.

The storied wing traces its roots to the Tuskegee Airmen of World War II, and its aircraft continue flying as the Red Tails in recognition of that lineage.

DeMaio said he spent two years preparing the wing for the new mission. His work included coordinating with state political leaders on a $70 million building project for the F-35s and their specialized equipment, along with working with Montgomery officials to improve the adjacent airport runway.

Image Credit: DoW

He also established what was then a rare program to counter drones on the base. The Red Tails received their first F-35s in December 2023, a little more than a year after DeMaio was relieved.

In late August, days before the panel issued its final ruling in DeMaio’s case, the 187th completed Tuskegee Thunder.

The major exercise served as a formal Combat Readiness Inspection for the wing’s F-35s.

DeMaio could appeal his removal because his command position was classified as a dual status technician role, a hybrid civilian and military position.

Guard technicians hold military jobs while operating under civilian hiring and pay rules, making their removal more complicated than a commander simply issuing an order.

Sprague ruled that because Alabama officials did not identify a military reason for removing DeMaio, the firing had to be handled as a civilian employment matter.

The state then failed to present evidence that would have been sufficient to fire a civilian employee.

Image Credit: DoW

DeMaio hopes the ruling will force Alabama to restore him as commander of the 187th, although Air Force regulations generally prohibit relieved commanders from returning to the same position, even after a ruling reversing the relief.

He is currently retired and continues dealing with the consequences of his removal.

DeMaio said civilian employers rejected him after managers discovered media reports about his firing.

He now works for a defense contractor focused on autonomous weapons, while his two children are attending law school and playing college baseball.

“It’s been hard on the family. I’m very lucky to still have them,” DeMaio said. “I would say there’s permanent damage that I’m going to be fixing the rest of my life.”

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